Missouri has executed prisoners at a high rate in the 50 years since death penalty's return

Rep. Barry Hovis, a former law enforcement officer who represents Cape Girardeau County, said he does not want to see the death penalty go away. Missouri, which reinstated the death penalty in 1977, also has a low resentencing rate. And a proposal restricting people with severe mental illness from receiving the death penalty is also within the realm of possibility, she said. "We can chip away at the death penalty here," Smith said. This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project – St. Louis, a nonprofit news team covering Missouri’s criminal justice systems.